Woman who was kidnapped, raped, robbed and shot in vicious attack weds TV producer who covered her story

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UPDATED:

22:09 GMT, 17 July 2012

A woman who was brutally attacked in 2002 has married a TV producer who did a news story on her in 2004.

Bridget Kelly, 35, exchanged vows with Eric Strauss, a 39-year-old producer with ABC News, in New York on July 7 after five years of dating.

Mr Strauss had worked on the ABC Primetime story which explored the day Ms Kelly was kidnapped, robbed, raped and shot in the back three times by a stranger in a secluded field near her then-home in Texas.

New beginnings: Eric Strauss, an ABC News producer (right) has married a woman he did a story on in 2004. The woman, Bridget Kelly (left) had been brutally attacked and left for dead in 2002 near her home in Texas

Mr Strauss had shot footage of Ms Kelly, a public school reading specialist, in her home and in the classroom for the story before she was interviewed by the program's news anchor.

It was a devastating tale that received plenty of media attention for months on end.

Her kidnapper, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison as well as an additional 40 years, had kicked her home door in on the night of the attack, breaking in and then driving her to a field, raping her and shooting her three times in the back before driving off.

Her survival was declared a miracle by many.

But despite such horrific circumstances, Ms Kelly and Mr Strauss evidently developed a positive connection via revisiting the attack during his own story for ABC.

Survivor: Ms Kelly, pictured in hospital after the attack, was kidnapped at night after dropping a friend off

Memories: Mr Strauss had taped video of Ms Kelly for the story he produced on her, which was shown on ABC

Although a friendship was sparked instantly, a romance was born when Ms Kelly left Texas for New York to earn her master's degree in education.

The producer, who lived in New York, met her out for lunch after she had settled in.

Michael Kelly, Ms Kelly's father who is a columnist for the Omaha World-Herald, wrote in the newspaper two days ago: 'The friendship blossomed, and we got to know Eric's kind family'.

At the couple's wedding, which was staged at the W Hotel in Union Square, Manhattan, the groom noted in his vows that he had met his wife-to-be 'during some unusual circumstances'.

The wedding week, which was described by Mr Kelly as 'spirited', involved taking in a Mets baseball game and a barbecue dinner the night before the wedding.

Smiles: The couple got together after Ms Kelly moved to New York to study – they had been dating for five years

There seemed to be no sign of the horror that flooded his daughter's world when she was just 24-years-old in 2002.

Mr Kelly noted that the family had come along way throughout his daughter's recovery period, writing for the paper: 'The past 10 years went fast, and there were many good days in spite of the dark ones.

'For any guy, dancing with his daughter at her wedding makes for a very good day indeed.'